BANGOR City kept their hopes of a top two finish alive with a stunning 1-0 victory of JD Welsh Premier League champions The New Saints of Oswestry Town.

The Citizens fought hard to achieve a vital three points in the race for Europe, and Kevin Nicholson’s side have now surpassed their points total of last season after successfully achieving a home double over the all-conquering full-timers.

Attention now turns to next Saturday’s pivotal JD Welsh Cup semi-final against Connah’s Quay Nomads, which will be played at Rhyl FC (7.35pm).

Nicholson, said: “It was a very good win. We defended well when we had to in the second half but our work with ball could have been better and it wasn’t a true reflection of how we can play.

“The lads rose to the challenge of seeing the game out because we had that goal advantage, it would have been nice to attack a little bit more but at this stage of the season it is all about picking up point and this is going to be very valuable.”

The home side came out of the blocks flying and opened the scoring on ten minutes when Dean Rittenberg prodded home a rebound after his initial effort was only parried.

This proved to be enough to give City a crucial win, which was thanks in no small part to the outstanding contribution from home stopper Matthew Hall, who pulled off a series of exceptional stops to keep his side ahead.

“He (Hall) is an excellent keeper and for a young lad the standards he sets himself are absolutely superb,” added Nicholson.

“We have got a lot to thank him for, not just in this game and you need that when you are playing a team like TNS as you have to be at your best in all areas.

“We now have an exciting game to look forward to against Quay, we will prepare well to make sure we are ready and see if we can deliver an even better performance.”